The Lowdown Drifters hail from Fort Worth, Texas and consist of John Cannon on vocals, Dylan Welsh on guitar, Raina Wallace on bass, Josh Willaert on drums, and Doug Rehfeldt on fiddle. They release their latest album `In Time` this month which has a blend of country, rock, and folk influences.
We are led into this release by `In Time` and it`s a cracking rolling Americana-tinted tale of a couple who are entwined for life but haven`t yet accepted this premise. It`s a kind of “can`t live with you but can`t live without you” scenario and superb indicator of what`s to come. A number that would grace any Steve Earle repertoire. We have another rumbling rhythmic offering in `Ghost` which recounts a relationship that`s all but finished where the narrator is going through the motions of accepting the inevitable and feels as if he`s an unwelcome presence.
`Awful Truth` has Raina Wallace trading lines and choruses with Big John Cannon. An honest appraisal from each participant as to their failings but a kind of recognition that they`re both good for each other. A tender melancholic tinged offering with an ember of hope shared over a melodic new country backing. A haunting fiddle and strummed guitar lead us through the introspective `Burn` where again John and Raina trade vocal harmonies. A redemptive tale of sorts.
`Fatherless` is a deeply contemplative composition on life and maybe recognising one`s prior failings, learning from them and trying to ensure you don`t repeat them. We enjoy a much faster pace on `Nothings Sacred` which again is meditative but shared over a thumping blistering rock out with some scintillating keys and guitar riffs.
`Streets Of Aberdeen` is a fairly intense slow burn that relays a story or piece of folklore either true or mythological but with a deep intensity both vocally and musically. The album closes out with a cover of Canadian singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith`s `Trucker Speed` which the band really make their own. This version makes you feel as if you`re in the cab along with the trucker.
I read that The Lowdown Drifters describe themselves as “The epitome of a rock band with a fiddle problem,” but while they certainly are, there`s so much more to this band. They offer songs full of narratives of love, loss, and life not shying away from it`s at times, harsh reality. In John Cannon, the band have a vocalist with a tremendous range and really should be much better known, but maybe `In Time` will go some way to changing this perception.
Rating 8.5/10
REVIEW: THE LOWDOWN DRIFTERS – IN TIME (2024)
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